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What are the most common errors in using a camera? We have had a lot of amateur photographers in our photo class and this is a list of what is most often found in need of improvement:
(1) FOCUS or lack of sharpness is the most common quality problem. IF you need glasses to see you will need them to focus your camera. A dirty lens can lower focus. But, the most common cause of an unsharp photo is camera SHAKE from not holding the camera properly. The camera needs to be up against your face, your elbows against your side and your feet slightly spread apart to keep your body steady. Camera shake can also come from jerking the shutter when you take the photo. A violent, quick punching of the shutter release will shake the camera and reduce sharpness.
(2) Exposure errors are common when there is a bright light or white background behind our subject. This will fool the light meter into thinking it is brighter than it really is and it will adjust itself to let in less light than it should which will usually make our subject too dark. Aim the camera away from the background and set your exposure there and then recompose your photo. A good photo will have good detail in the shadows AND in the highlights. Exposure effects the quality of the shadows and contrast or film processing effects the quality of detail in the highlights or white areas. The same result can happen with a dark background that will cause the camera to let in MORE light than is needed. The pro photographer pays attention to details in the lighting of a photograph. Sunsets can often produce problems for exposure. To get the best results move the camera viewfinder away from the sun and set the exposure to that brightness. Once exposure is set, return the camera to compose the photo with the sun in place ignoring the change in exposure indicated by the meter.
(3) Holding the camera horizontally when the subject is a vertical. The new photographer forgets to tilt the camera on its side to make a vertical composition for people shots, faces and objects that are taller than they are wide.
The difference between a snap shot and a PHOTOGRAPH is in the THOUGHT that goes into making it. A snap shot is usually just snapped - quickly - with little concern for technical issues or for composition or what the future print will look like. A photograph has thought for exposure, composition, control of the background, focus, etc.
(4) Backgrounds that are not needed are the next common error. The lens in the camera shows the subject with the WORST depth of field possible. The background may look out of focus to us when we take the photo but will end up sharp and clear in our photo. DOES the background add to our photo impact. If it does then we want it in focus (use f16) if we do not want it in focus then we make it a blur (use f2). Along the same line is the error from not watching what is in your picture frame. I saw a great photo of our local lighthouse with some visitors standing in front but just to the lower left corner of the photo was an old hamburger wrapper that looked messy. The camera should have been moved.
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